A week in paradise

We had such an amazing week in Hawaii....lots of good time at the beach, pool and just relaxing. We went with the Brinkers and Grammy and Popo... we missed the Fishers and the Dunns. I was lucky enough to have brought my own photographer (eileen) who took close to 800 pictures... here are just a few and then make sure to check out the slideshow at the bottom... such good times. Jack LOVED the water... the sand... the waves. Here he is checkin' out the boogie board.
He even wanted to give snorkeling a try.This is Madison doing a "fancy nancy" pose... if you don't know what that is and you have a girl... brace yourself... this is what 3 going on 13 looks like, YIKES!!
Madison and Mia had so much fun together.. playing dress-up with each other's dresses, flip flops, bathing suits, etc. They even gave hula dancing a try. We really like the "lift in the air" silhouette pics... so here are a few of our favorites. Look out "Dancing with the Stars".. nobody puts Madison in the corner... (sorry so cheezy)
Mark spent his birthday over there... so we got to sneak out for a little sushi dinner to celebrate.This was a great shot of Madison and Mark getting ready to watch the sunset and say good night to another awesome day in paradise.
The weather was good but we did hit a few rainy days... so what do you do in Hawaii with kids when it rains... you hit the arcade in Kona... really? yeah really. Look below not sure if this stop was more fun for the kids or the Daddies.
This was a nice brother/sister photo shoot... smiling in the sun... until....
a little too much fun in the sun...how about some water wrestling?The sand.... what a great place to practice gymnastics.... and play with Mia!!


This isn't long but there are definitely some good ones... take a look!!

A weekend in the snow

At the end of February we went with Oma and Opa to Tahoe for the weekend. We had such a great time and kids loved the snow... especially the getting pulled around in a sleigh part. We found a great hill for sledding and after Madison got some fancy pink ski goggles so the snow wouldn't get in her face... she was set to go. Oma and Opa didn't miss any of the action... they were real sports and I promised them I would file these pictures in the "anything for our grandkids" pile.

As some of you may know... my kids are OBSESSED with ice... so as you can imagine snowballs aren't just good for throwing. But let's be clear they are also good for throwing... especially with Opa. There were definitely some "firsts" on this trip... including Jack's first time in the snow Madison's first indoor Smoreand the first Farrell Snowman (complete with a carrot nose, please note)We had such a nice time and hope to get back up there more next year... maybe for some skiing??

An afternoon on Chestnut Street

One recent Friday afternoon we all decided to meet on Chestnut Street.. this is one of the awesome parts of everyone living close we can have these spur of the moment good times. We were all in tow including Grammy... an extra set of hands never hurt!!
Julie was decked for the "walk" with Dylan making his first appearance in the Bjorn
It was a beautiful day so we promised Madison and Mia some frozen yogurt... look at these two girls, hangin' out on Chestnut Street with chocolate all over their faces.... soon they'll be hanging out of bars on Chestnut Street.... oh boy!!If you have never seen the pure joy of a 3-year-old this is it.. my friends!!

Crab Feed

Every year we have the high school/college crew over for crab. This was our 5th year doing it and it has become a tradition we all look forward to. This year everyone got a babysitter and we enjoyed a fun night with good wine, good crab and good friends of course!!

Every year we go to our special friends at the wharf to make sure the crab is super fresh. This year we made a morning out of it, so after we got the crab we headed to Pier 39 and Mark relived his glory days in the arcade.. teaching Madison and Jack the "art" of skeeball.

Preschool Playdates

Madison has had some fun recently having some friends from preschool over after school. This is Madison and Drew making some cookies.
Dress up is also becoming a big thing in our house.... here is a picture of Madison and Callen Porter testing out their "jewels"
The girls were getting all dressed up... when I asked where they were going ... Madison told me "Costco".

While the Daddies are away... the cousins will play

Every year the Daddies head to Tahoe for Super Bowl weekend... this weekend in the past has been marked with a lot of angst by the girls mostly because someone is always sick, pregnant, or has a newborn... or all three. This year we were determined to make it a fun weekend so everyone came to Chez Farrell for a cousins sleepover... and after everyone went to bed the mommies snuck out to drinks and dinner!! This is how Jack felt after spending the whole weekend with all his aunties and cousins. No hall pass for Ryan this year.. but Dylan did make it over for the first cousins pick as you can see.. it was a great success... everyone is all smiles and Jack is sitting nicely.. oh wait that's what we hoped it would be this is what really happened.

We did get this pic of the youngest four.. the M&M's are getting too cool for these pics and playing babies and dress up is way more fun.

The trampoline has been a big hit since we got it and Chloe after spending a year watching everyone else... is joining Jack in the fun.

Jack LOVES all his girl cousins.... and after Chloe he moves right on over to Reese. He loves to invade their space... I mean give them lots of hugs and kisses.

Madison and Mia have a wonderful friendship and play so well together. They even have figured out how to call each other on the phone.. they have 20 minute conversations about nothing..their just like 2 little old ladies. I love this pic of them. On Saturday afternoon we headed to the East Bay to the Little Star Cafe... I highly recommend it if you haven't been. Fun for everyone.. mommies get to eat and drink and kids get to play. It was a big hit.